Open Water versus Pool Training

This is not based on anything scientific, but I do one long swim a week--preferably in open water with no wall to push off of, etc.

Then I do at least two others in a pool, so I can continue to build speed and form. Hope that non-scientific opinion is helpful!


Dana

Dana--

Thanks! That was what I was thinking as well. How far do you go in your open water efforts and in the pool, what kind of workouts do you do?

Thanks,
Jon

Here is a typical week for me (keep in mind that I'm training for a 1/2 IM--a 1.2mile swim, so if you are doing a shorter distance, scale back!!)

Monday: Pool day
~ 100 warm up swim,
~ 100 warm up kick
~ 100 warm up pull
Main set:
ladders 175, 150, 125 -> 25 with a 15 to 20 second break between each. As I get to the shorter distances I try to increase my HR
Cool down: 150 easy swim

Thursday: Pool day
~ similar warm up
Main set:
10 to 16 sets of 100 with the following pattern:
1st 25: normal
2nd 25: building pace
3rd 25: easy
4th 25: all out
Then a 15 to 20 second rest
Cool down: easy swim 150 to 200

Weekend, I do the same mile swim in open water and just track my times to see what's happening in terms of improvement.

I do different things in terms of my weekday workouts, but those are kind of typical: varying paces and things like that. I will often incorporate specific drills into the warm up aspect.

Hope that's helpful!!

Dana

I think that the advice Dana gave is pretty sound.

If you are have open water experience then it will not matter quite as much, but if not it is great to practice sighting so look for something and swim toward that and try to teach yourself to swim straight.

As far as distance is concerned I would try to do somewhere around 750 meters ( yards ).

I hope that it helps.

Roy

so, do you swim say 1500m faster open water or in the pool?

i assumed that open water would be faster as no turns to slow down for? just interested...

This is an interesting question. I don't really time myself much at the pool--I depend entirely on how my body is feeling. I push faster at certain times etc. I only really time my open water swims.

But I wonder... I would think it would sort of break even. Sure you've got the turn around, but you also have the push off the wall right?? Also if you can do flip turns (which I can't) it seems that pool would edge out the open water.

But also, it kind of depends on your sight ability. If you go off course, regularly, you can depend on a longer time.

Also I find when I'm doing open water swim, I think more about pacing, making sure I've got enough for the entire thing, so I probably ease off a bit there.

Bascially what I'm saying is, I DON'T KNOW!! :-)

How's that??

Dana

Edited by dhlundblad 2004-05-17 6:16 PM

Practically every open water I've done, has some buoys somewhere. I live in California and every lake is somebody's triathlon location, I guess.

In any case, the buoys at the lake I swim at are 140 yards apart (I asked the lifeguard), so I just go back and forth between them 13 times, which puts me just over a mile.



In other words, I depend on someone else's prior labor and knowledge!

Dana

jk, good question.
I would say it's not necessary to train in the open water every week. However, regularly getting out there is not a bad thing. In my 12-week plans, I have you doing your straight swim every 4 weeks, so you're really only doing it 2 times before your race. If it is an ocean swim, it may be beneficial to train a little more than that in the ocean to become familiar with the conditions. There is no scientifically correct answer here, but consistency and sticking to a plan is the most important element.

Good luck,
Kevin

Kevin et al--

Thanks for the advice!

Jon

dhlundblad- Is the lake you swim in in Berkeley? Looking for a good place to do some open water swims (even though my next tri is a pool swim). Do you wear a wetsuit? I'm sure the water is still pretty cold.

Juliet--

Actually we do most of our open water swims in your area... well sort of. We head out to Shadow Cliffs in Pleasanton. http://www.ebparks.org/parks/shadow.htm Temperature wise it's not too bad, and they have a marked out lane that is 140yds each way. They do a couple of tris there every summer. 3 Tri-For-Funs (June, July, August) and one Tri-For-Real (September). Maybe they do more, but I know of those ones.

Alas I do not have a wetsuit, although, since we start swimming there at the beginning of March (brrrrr!), I wish I did!

I've swum at Lake Anza in Berkeley, but I really really really really don't like it! I've heard the Aquatic Park in SF is great, and I hope to go check that out, but have not yet.

BTW, welcome to the board--it's great to have another 'local' here!

Dana

Dana- Thanks for the response. I am actually planning on doing one of the Tri for Fun events (at least) in Pleasanton. When is the best time to swim there? Glad to hear I won't really need a wetsuit since I don't have one. Do you go with a group?

DHLundblad,

I'm going to be in Pleasanton the last weekend of June for a family reunion. Could you tell me where ShadowCliffs is? I'd like to get an open water swim in while I'm down there for the reunion. Thanks a lot for the help! Also, do you know of any races close by there the last weekend of June? If there is one, maybe I'll do the race instead of just the swim. Thanks again.

i guess open water swimming is the real deal... here where i swim water is always 32ºC... what is very cool... however currents, tides rising and lowering and other things affect my performance/time so i try to go swimming in a pool twice a week...
open water swimming is a magic moment for me, the water passing by my body, the flow of my stroke and not having to see the black lane on the bottom...make me go for 3.8 km easily sometimes - and that is ironman distance...so different from the 180km on the bike...

My personal feeling is that you should always swim with a buddy. There is a sporadic lifeguard there, however.

Let's see, we were going every Tuesday at... 11:30, I think. It was after my class, so I think that was correct. Now that we've hit summer, we'll probably try to go earlier.

We (my training partner and I) are on a short hiatus, but once we straighten ourselves out a bit, I'd be happy to give you a 'call' and let you know if you want to join us. We know the course pretty well too, so if you'd like to do some BRicks or anything like that, we'd be happy to assist!!

We do go pretty regularly, as TP has some water phobias, so it helps to be comfortable in the water, and to every once in a while, just do the distance to assure yourself that you can!!

D

Dana,
Got the location off the link you provided. Thanks! I'll have to check it out while I'm there.

Hey Stan!

Give a ring when you come down if you want to know some great places to hike, bike, run, etc. :-)

Dana

Thanks Dana, may just do that if I can sneak away from the family for a couple workouts. I'll be bringing my bike too so might be able to get one day on the bike and one day in the water while I'm there.

Dana- Alas I am part of the "working world" so won't be able to join you and your TP for a swim in the morning on a weekday. Trying to convince a buddy of mine to join me for a swim there one day this weekend...couple it with a hard run before and I'm sure the water will feel mighty nice.

Lots of great bike routes around the area for your visit- flyboy. No races that week from what I've checked out, unfortunately.

Missed one of your responses, Stan--

So let's see, late June, bay area...

Not a lot. There is a Tri-For-Fun at that same Shadow Cliffs location on June 19th.

Dana

Thanks for checking on the races guys. I'll just plan on the swimming and getting a bike ride in too. Good luck with your training and races this summer.
Dana, I'll be doing a sprint tri up here on the 19th then be down there the next weekend. Thanks again for all the help.

*jealous of people who have access to open water swimming areas*